Jefferies Financial Group Raises Progressive (NYSE:PGR) Price Target to $295.00

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) had its target price hoisted by Jefferies Financial Group from $257.00 to $295.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the insurance provider’s stock.

PGR has been the subject of several other research reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $294.00 to $312.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Progressive in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $367.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $210.00 to $239.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Progressive from $281.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Progressive from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $253.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $260.53.

Progressive Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE PGR opened at $254.09 on Wednesday. Progressive has a one year low of $142.87 and a one year high of $260.46. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $245.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $222.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.75, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.35.

Progressive (NYSE:PGR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The insurance provider reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.61. Progressive had a net margin of 10.17% and a return on equity of 33.01%. The firm had revenue of $17.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. Progressive’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Progressive will post 13.07 EPS for the current year.

Progressive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 3rd were paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.16%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 3rd. Progressive’s payout ratio is 3.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Progressive

In other Progressive news, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total value of $549,970.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 13,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,462,038.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Progressive news, insider Steven Broz sold 2,982 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $775,320.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,626,840. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Dyke Kahina Van sold 2,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $252.28, for a total value of $549,970.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,723 shares in the company, valued at $3,462,038.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 146,512 shares of company stock worth $33,912,874. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Progressive

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PGR. Northwest Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Davis Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 119.6% during the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 123 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO bought a new stake in shares of Progressive during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Hilltop National Bank raised its stake in shares of Progressive by 126.0% during the second quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 165 shares of the insurance provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. 85.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Progressive Company Profile

The Progressive Corporation, an insurance holding company, provides personal and commercial auto, personal residential and commercial property, business related general liability, and other specialty property-casualty insurance products and related services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, and Property.